Japan backs Kuwait Gulf mediation

07/08/2017

DOHA, Aug 6, (KUNA): Japan on Saturday reiterated its support of Kuwait’s ongoing mediation efforts to resolve the dispute between Qatar and another three Gulf Arab countries plus Egypt, urging the need for diplomacy as a solution. During talks with Qatar’s foreign minister in Doha, a Japanese official stressed the importance of the Gulf Cooperation Council bloc’s unity and maintaining Middle East peace and stability.

Kentaro Sonoura, the Japanese prime minister’s special advisor, also praised his country’s bilateral relations with Qatar, and said he looked forward to further cooperation between both sides, according to Qatar’s state news agency.

For his part, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said Doha appreciates Tokyo’s position on the Gulf feud, which calls for diplomacy as a way out of the deadlock and urges unity between GCC member states.

The minister also applauded economic cooperation and mutual investments between both countries, particularly in the field of liquefied natural gas, and underlined Qatar’s continued commitment to providing Japan with its energy needs. Meanwhile, Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani received on Sunday a verbal message from Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika on ways of enhancing bilateral relations.

The message was delivered by Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel during a meeting with the Qatari Amir, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. During the meeting, they discussed several issues of mutual interest, mainly the Gulf crises, QNA said. Moreover, the Qatari Foreign Minister also met with the visiting Algerian Foreign Minister, in which they discussed the bilateral relation and some regional issues of mutual intrest, QNA said.